Sarama Undertakes A$2m Placement to Advance Sanutura Project
Funds raised will be used for the completion of a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") to evaluate accelerating the development of the Sanutura Project
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE IN THE UNITED STATES
PERTH, AUSTRALIA / VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWORE / April 3, 2023 / Sarama Resources Ltd. ("Sarama" or the "Company") (ASX:SRR, TSX-V:SWA) is pleased to announce it has received binding commitments to undertake a A$2.0 million equity placement (the "Placement") to advance development studies for its 100%-owned(4) Sanutura Project (the "Project"). The Placement was strongly supported by existing shareholders and new domestic and international institutional, professional and sophisticated investors.
Highlights
Binding commitments received for Placement of A$2.0 million
Strong demand for Placement from existing and new institutional, professional and sophisticated investors
The funds raised will be used to complete a PEA evaluating an accelerated, multi-stage development of the Sanutura Project and for general working capital purposes
Sarama's Managing Director, Andrew Dinning commented:
"We are very pleased with the strong support received for the Placement from our existing shareholders and look forward to welcoming a number of new institutional, professional and sophisticated investors to the Company's share register.
The funds raised from the Placement will be used to evaluate an accelerated multi-stage development at the Sanutura Project which we believe has the potential to generate a very compelling investment case based on the extensive oxide resource and related grade and cost profile."
Use of Proceeds
Funds raised from the Placement will be used to complete a preliminary economic assessment to evaluate an accelerated multi-stage development at the Sanutura Project and to fund administration and general working capital costs.
Placement Details
The Placement will comprise the issue of 20,000,000 Chess Depository Instruments ("CDIs") at an issue price of A$0.10 per CDI to raise gross proceeds of A$2.0 million. The issue price represents a ~4.8% discount to Sarama's last traded price on the ASX on Wednesday, 29 March 2023 of A$0.105. Each new CDI issued under the Placement will rank equally with existing CDIs on issue and each CDI will represent a beneficial interest in 1 common share of the Company.
Sarama will issue 1 free attaching unlisted option ("Placement Option") for every 2 new CDIs issued pursuant to the Placement. Each Placement Option will be exercisable at A$0.15 and will expire 3 years from the date of issue.
Members of Sarama's Board and Management intend to subscribe for an aggregate 500,000 CDIs (together with the attaching Placement Options) in the Placement. Subscriptions by directors of Sarama are subject to prior approval of the shareholders as required by the ASX Listing Rules. Accordingly, such subscriptions will only be completed as part of Tranche 2 of the Placement which is anticipated at the General Meeting to be held on or about 31 May 2023.
Each of the directors and officers who participates in the Placement will be a "related party" of the Company within the meaning of that term in Canadian Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Shareholders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Participation by them in the Placement is therefore a "related party transaction" within the meaning of MI 61-101. Pursuant to Section 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, the Company is exempt from obtaining a formal valuation and minority approval of the Company's shareholders in respect of the Offer due to the fair market value of their participation being below 25% of the Company's market capitalization for the purposes of MI 61-101. The Company will file a material change report in respect of the Placement which will detail the participation by any directors and officers of the Company. It is expected that the material change report will be filed more than 21 days prior to the completion the Placement in respect of any participating directors and officers.
The Placement is comprised of two tranches:
Tranche 1 consists of 13.75 million new CDIs (and 6.875 million attaching Placement Options) under the Company's ASX Listing Rule 7.1 capacity. Funds received from the Tranche 1 placement will total A$1.375 million. The Company expects to complete allotment of the new CDIs under Tranche 1 by 12 April 2023.
Tranche 2 consists of a further 6.25 million new CDIs (and 3.125 million attaching Placement Options) which will be subject to shareholder approval at the General Meeting. Tranche 2 includes participation by Directors or entities associated with the Directors totalling A$20,000. Total funds received from Tranche 2 will total A$0.625 million.
The Placement remains subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
Euroz Hartleys Limited acted as Sole Lead Manager and Bookrunner to the Placement.
This announcement was authorised for release to the ASX by the Board of Sarama Resources Ltd.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For further information, please contact:
Company Activities | Media Enquiries |
Andrew Dinning or Paul Schmiede | Angela East |
e: info@saramaresources.com | e: Angela.east@mcpartners.com.au |
ABOUT SARAMA RESOURCES LTD
Sarama Resources Ltd (ASX: SRR, TSX-V: SWA) is a West African focused gold explorer/developer with substantial landholdings in south-west Burkina Faso. Sarama is focused on maximising the value of its strategic assets and advancing its key projects towards development.
Sarama's 100%-owned(4) Sanutura Project is principally located within the prolific Houndé Greenstone Belt in south-west Burkina Faso and is the exploration and development focus of the Company. The Project hosts the Tankoro and Bondi Deposits which have a combined Mineral Resource of 0.6Moz gold (Indicated) plus 2.3Moz gold (Inferred)(1).
Together, the deposits present a potential mine development opportunity featuring an initial, long-life CIL project which may be established and paid for by the significant oxide Mineral Resource base.
Sarama has built further optionality into its portfolio including an approximate 470km² exploration position in the highly prospective Banfora Belt in south-western Burkina Faso. The Koumandara Project hosts several regional-scale structural features and trends of gold-in-soil anomalism extending for over 25km along strike.
Sarama also holds an approximate 18% participating interest in the Karankasso Project Joint Venture ("JV") which is situated adjacent to the Company's Sanutura Project in Burkina Faso and is a JV between Sarama and Endeavour Mining Corp ("Endeavour") in which Endeavour is the operator of the JV. In February 2020, an updated Mineral Resource estimate of 709koz gold(3) was declared for the Karankasso Project JV.
The Company's Board and management team have a proven track record in Africa and a strong history in the discovery and development of large-scale gold deposits. Sarama is well positioned to build on its current success with a sound strategy to surface and maximise the value of its property portfolio.
Sanutura Project - An Already Large Mineral Resource with Potential to Grow
The Company's primary focus is its 100%-owned(4) Sanutura Project, which hosts a large Mineral Resource of 0.6Moz Au (Indicated) plus 2.3Moz Au (Inferred)(1) and covers an area of 1,420km2. The Project occupies a commanding position along 70km of strike in the prolific Houndé Belt (refer Figure 6), Burkina Faso's pre-eminent gold belt.
The Project lies 60km south of Endeavour Mining's Houndé Mine (5Moz Au); 120km south of Fortuna Silver's high-grade Yaramoko Mine (1Moz Au), and 140km south of Endeavour Mining's Mana Mine (5Moz Au), highlighting the significant gold endowment of the Houndé Belt (refer Appendix B). Endeavour Mining's Bantou Project (1.5Moz Au Inferred Mineral Resource(5)) is located only 6km from the bulk of the Sanutura Project's main deposit, which illustrates the gold camp scale of endowment of the immediate area.
The Project has significant growth potential and the primary objective of the current +50,000m drill program is to increase the existing 0.2Moz Au (Indicated) plus 0.8Moz Au (Inferred)(2) pit shell constrained oxide and transition component of the Project's Mineral Resource to further underwrite and enhance the economics of mine development.
The recent drill program has generally focused on shallow additional and extensional targets throughout the well-mineralised western corridor of the Tankoro Deposit, where mineralisation has been drill-defined for a semi-continuous strike length of 16km and potential exists to expand the Mineral Resource at shallow depths in oxide material.
Figure 1 - Sanutura Project Location Plan
FOOTNOTES
Mineral Resource estimate for Sanutura Project - 9.4Mt @ 1.9g/t Au for 0.6Moz Au (Indicated) plus 52.7Mt @ 1.4g/t Au for 2.3Moz (Inferred), reported at cut-off grades ranging 0.2-1.6g/t Au, reflecting the mining methods and processing flowsheets assumed to assess the likelihood of the Mineral Resources to have reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. The effective date of the Company's Mineral Resource estimate is 16 November 2021. For further information regarding the Mineral Resource estimate refer to the technical report titled "NI 43-101 Independent Technical Report Sanutura Project, South-West Burkina Faso", dated 7 February 2022 and prepared by Paul Schmiede, Rindra Le Grange and Fred Kock, and the Company's ASX Prospectus dated 11 March 2022. Paul Schmiede is an employee of Sarama. Ms Le Grange and Mr Kock are employees of Cube Consulting Pty Ltd and Orway Mineral Consultants Pty Ltd respectivley and are considered to be independent of Sarama. The technical report is available under Sarama's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and the ASX Prospectus is available under Sarama's profile on ASX at www.asx.com.au.
Oxide & transition component of the Mineral Resource for Sanutura Project - 3.2Mt @ 1.6g/t Au for 0.2Moz Au (Indicated) plus 23.4Mt @ 1.1g/t Au for 0.8Moz Au (Inferred), reported above cut-off grades of 0.2g/t Au and 0.3g/t Au for oxide and transition material respectively.
Mineral Resource estimate for Karankasso Project - 12.74Mt @ 1.73g/t Au for 709koz Au (effective date of December 31, 2019), disclosed on 24 February 2020 by Semafo Inc ("Semafo", since acquired by Endeavour Mining Corp. "Endeavour"). For further information regarding that Mineral Resource estimate, refer to the news release "Semafo: Bantou Project Inferred Resources Increase to 2.2Moz" dated 24 February 2020 and Semafo: Bantou Project NI43-101 Technical Report - Mineral Resource Estimate" dated 3 April 2020 and the Company's ASX Prospectus dated 11 March 2022. The news release and technical report are available under Semafo's and Endeavour's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and the ASX Prospectus is available under Sarama's profile on ASX at www.asx.com.au. The Mineral Resource estimate was fully prepared by, or under the supervision of Semafo. Sarama has not independently verified Semafo's mineral Resource Estimate and takes no responsibility for its accuracy. Semafo, and now Endeavour, is the operator of the Karankasso Project JV and Sarama is relying on their Qualified Persons' assurance of the validity of the Mineral Resource estimate. Additional technical work has been undertaken on the Karankasso Project since the effective date but Sarama is not in a position to quantify the impact of this additional work on the Mineral Resource estimate referred to above.
The Government of Burkina Faso has processed the requisite documents to facilitate the grant of the new, full-term Tankoro 2 and Djarkadougou 2 Exploration Permits (the "Permits") and subsequently issued the invitation to pay the permit issuance fees (the "Fees") and the Fees were paid within the requisite 10-day timeline. Following the payment of the Fee, the issuance of the Permit's arrêté and related paperwork becomes an administrative process during which time the Company may undertake work on the Tankoro 2 and Djarkadougou 2 Properties. The Company has received the arrêté for the Djarkadougou 2 Exploration Permit and anticipates the issuance of the same for the Tankoro 2 Exploration Permit in due course. The properties, hosting the Tankoro and Bondi Deposits respectively, were formerly known as Tankoro and Djarkadougou, but have been renamed as part of the process of re-issuing the respective Permits.
Endeavour Mining's Bantou Project Mineral Resource - 38.4Mt @ 1.2g/t Au for 1.5Moz Au (Inferred). This is the aggregate of the Mineral Resource listing for the Bantou and Bantou Nord Deposits which are located within the Bantou Project. Data is sourced from Semafo: Bantou Project NI43-101 Technical Report - Mineral Resource Estimate" dated 3 April 2020. The technical report are available under Endeavour's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION
Information in this news release that is not a statement of historical fact constitutes forward-looking information. Such forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding the use of proceeds from the Placement and the holding of a General Meeting, the Company's future exploration and development plans, the potential for the Sanutura and Karankasso Projects to host economic mineralisation, the potential to expand the existing estimated Mineral Resources at the Sanutura Project (including the present oxide and transition component), the accuracy of the Mineral Resource estimate for the Sanutura Project in localized areas with the addition of new drilling and assay information, the potential to extend and add to existing mineralisation at the MM, MC, Obi and Kenobi Prospects, the potential for development of a mine at the Sanutura Project, the potential for the receipt of regulatory approvals and the timing and prospects for the issuance of the arrêté for the Tankoro 2 Exploration Permit by the Government of Burkina Faso. The Company's full suite of exploration permits are at varying stages in their life cycles and at any one time, the Company has exploration permits either in renewal or re-issue phase and although the Company follows due government process and anticipates new exploration permits will be granted in due course, it cannot guarantee this will be done in a timely manner or at all. Actual results, performance or achievements of the Company may vary from the results suggested by such forward-looking statements due to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such factors include, among others, that the business of exploration for gold and other precious minerals involves a high degree of risk and is highly speculative in nature; Mineral Resources are not mineral reserves, they do not have demonstrated economic viability, and there is no certainty that they can be upgraded to mineral reserves through continued exploration; few properties that are explored are ultimately developed into producing mines; geological factors; the actual results of current and future exploration; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's publicly filed documents.
There can be no assurance that any mineralisation that is discovered will be proven to be economic, or that future required regulatory licensing or approvals will be obtained. However, the Company believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the Company's ability to carry on its exploration activities, the sufficiency of funding, the timely receipt of required approvals, the price of gold and other precious metals, that the Company will not be affected by adverse political and security-related events, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain further financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
Sarama does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except as required by applicable laws.
QUALIFIED PERSONS' STATEMENT
Scientific or technical information in this disclosure that relates to the preparation of the Mineral Resource estimate for the Sanutura Project is based on information compiled or approved by Paul Schmiede. Paul Schmiede is an employee of Sarama Resources Ltd and is a Fellow in good standing of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Paul Schmiede has sufficient experience which is relevant to the commodity, style of mineralisation under consideration and activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. Paul Schmiede consents to the inclusion in this news release of the information, in the form and context in which it appears.
Scientific or technical information in this disclosure that relates to exploration activities at the Sanutura Project is based on information compiled or approved by Guy Scherrer. Guy Scherrer is an employee of Sarama Resources Ltd and is a member in good standing of the Ordre des Géologues du Québec and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the commodity, style of mineralisation under consideration and activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. Guy Scherrer consents to the inclusion in this disclosure of the information, in the form and context in which it appears.
Scientific or technical information in this disclosure that relates to the quotation of the Karankasso Project's Mineral Resource estimate and exploration activities is based on information compiled by Paul Schmiede. Paul Schmiede is an employee of Sarama Resources Ltd and is a Fellow in good standing of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Paul Schmiede has sufficient experience which is relevant to the commodity, style of mineralisation under consideration and activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. Paul Schmiede consents to the inclusion in this disclosure of the information, in the form and context in which it appears. Paul Schmiede and Sarama have not independently verified Semafo's (now Endeavour's) Mineral Resource estimate and take no responsibility for its accuracy.
COMPETENT PERSONS' STATEMENT
The Mineral Resource estimates referred to in this disclosure were first disclosed in accordance with ASX Listing Rule 5.8 in the Company's ASX Prospectus dated 11 March 2022. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the ASX Prospectus and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in the ASX Prospectus continue to apply and have not materially changed.
The new Exploration Results reported in this disclosure are based on, and fairly represent, information and supporting documentation prepared by Guy Scherrer. Guy Scherrer is an employee of Sarama Resources and a member of the Ordre des Géologues du Québec. Guy Scherrer has provided his prior written consent as to the form and context in which the new Exploration Results and the supporting information are presented in this disclosure.
The previously reported Exploration Results referred to in this disclosure were first disclosed in accordance with ASX Listing Rule 5.7 in the Company's ASX disclosure listed in Appendix B. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in those previous items of disclosure.
SOURCE: Sarama Resources Ltd.
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